Pelikat Pants Designer

Saturday, February 11, 2006

It was one of those things that when you see it, a)YOU ARE PROUD THAT YOU ARE MALAYSIAN BECAUSE YOU ARE WATCHING A WORLD CLASS THEATRE PRODUCTION PRODUCED BY MALAYSIANS b) You are in Awe of the performances of these talented Malaysians and FREAKING wished you were up there with them.c) PISSED OFF THAT TIARA NEVER CALLED YOU TO BE A PART OF THIS WONDERFUL JOURNEY!d) You are STILL thinking of the show hours after the last performer took a bow on the stage.

When you are a performer, and you feel all those emotions that i listed up there, then you know that one thing has happened... YOU HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH to have been in the presence of one of the country's greatest theatrical production efforts of recent times.

I didn't go to the press preview that all the other blog viewers went too. I went on their premiere night yesterday with the PM in attendance and i must say i was impressed, my wife who is a theatre major was impressed and i guess most of the audience, if not all present were impressed too. i had heard that during their preview nite, things did not go particularly well with some techical glitches and what have u but such is the nature of theatre. it is not like the movies where if there was something wrong during the press preview, we wouldn't be able to fix anything, i was told that changes were still happening up till yesterday's performance. Every review has its pros and cons but i choose to focus on the strengths of this show because i believe it deserves a positive review and also because the cons were too few and negligable to me.

Gang, i am from the theatre. At the aged of 10 i fell in love with the experience and from then onwards have always had a high regard and the greatest respect for it and all who give their llife and love to the embetterment of it. After years of theatre, i know i can tell the good from the bad , the wannabes from the truly great, the formulaic from the truly inspired. In short, i am hard to please when it comes to theatrical performances.BUT TONITE I WAS AWED, i left the Istana Budaya feeling like a little child that found a 5 ringgit note on the ground to buy chocolates with. I was excited, delighted, inspired, flabergasted and proud. Why? because i had just watched the PGL Musical Premiere.Ohhh my god, PGLTM was OUTSTANDING!!!... It was 10 times better than the Movie (which i quite liked) but the stage production of PGL is absolutely frakking Marvellous!! I am not even kidding when i say that somebody if not everybody from this production deserves a datukship. The musical was easily one of the most beautiful, poignant, exciting and satisfying piece of Malaysian theatrical production i have ever seen in my life. I watched the production of the hit musical 'Chicago' when it first opened on the west end in London and i believe i didn't leave as satisfied as this.

MUCH KUDOS TO ALL THAT PUT THIS BABY TOGETHER. Your hardwork and Dedication really paid off guys. You gave the audience such a wonderful memory of Istana Budaya that i believe it should now be called Istana Puteri Gunung Ledang!!!Believe me gang when i say tak rugi kalau kita tengok show ni 10 kali pun. Dan tak malu gua rasa kalau show ni pergi ke london atau new york sekalipun untuk bersaing dengan Musical-musical si Andrew Lloyd Webber tu.

GUA BETUL-BETUL teruja ni, macam gua rasa gua kena jampi lak.... i can't stop talking and praising this show.Although everybody performed well for the show, One person really stands out in this production for me - my BRO and i believe now, ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER MALAYSIA HAS -AC MIZAL!!To tell you the truth, i was never really impressed with AC during his GERAK KHAS days but when i interviewed him during my (now defunct) talkshow BILA LARUT MALAM, i realised that this guy had something special. Tonite after seeing his interpretaion of GUSTI ADIPATI i trully trully believe that this man is a STAR and one of Malaysia greatest actor - entertainers in this day and age. HARD TO BELIEVE some of you might be saying, since now he is known more as a PAK LAWAK thru my movies but believe me friends, there depth and talent the size of mount Everest within this man and to top it off, he's such a nice guy too. GUA TABIK SPRING RACING COIL to you bro. I am in awe of your talent and feel honored to be a part of ur life. GOOD things come to good people i believe AC and i believe your time to TRULY SHINE has arrived and the light are spelling out the letters A C M I Z A L. You make me proud that i used u before them. heehee!Watch AC (the former theatre virgin) hold his own and then some against all the other more seasoned theatre actors in this country. KORANG MESTI TENGOK DIA DALAM PGL NI barulah korang akan paham apa yang gua membebel ni.Another thing to watch is Tiara's truly inspired performancela. This Lady belongs on stage man. She made me cry tonite huuhhuuhuu. She rocks !!! in this production, i truly felt for her character in this PGL, more so than in the movie.Did i mention the rest of the cast is also truly outstanding. That Stephen Rahman guy - what a voice! Adlin Aman Ramli - EXCELLENT beyond words!The music by Singaporean DICK LEE is so heartfelt and so SEEEDAP!!! Tanpa disedari muzik beliau yang di susun semula oleh pengarah muzik dan gua punya former boss ROSLAN AZIZ bermain dgn emosi kita dan ianya seakan dibuai mengikut segala perintah muzik itu.ZAHIM ALBAKRI the director, is a FREAKING GENIUS!!!... cara dia mengarah persembahan itu adalah bertaraf antarabangsa. HE SHOULD BE WORKING ON BROADWAY OR AT THE WEST END la gang. Whatever it is, he made PGL the musical happen and has given it's audience an unforgettable evening.Before u ask, NO! they are not paying me to write all this!.... this are my honest views, my perception, my good fortune to have been able to watch this show.I personally believe this show needs a home of it's own, a theatre which will show PGL the MUSICAL all year long!!... so that everyone can see. Make it one of the country's premiere tourist attraction to Malaysia. I want this show to sell out because it has the potential of changing the people's perception about theatre in this country.

I want to go again and watch it with my staff and friends and i urge you all to do the same. GIVE YOURSELF this opportunity to watch something really great from MALAYSIA.

Bro ... Can't say much about the rest. But AC Mizal, I am there with you. He's a great actor. Too bad that most people can only relate him with 4U2C and Gerak Khas. Seeing in appearing in your movies, I am sure he has a lot more to offer.

Cip kodok!i'm a new kodok... terpanggil to write something after i read your review on PGLtM..coz i have THE SAME feeling when i watched the show..which was on 7th..(1st day).seriuosly,b4 nak pegi n dpt tau nak pegi i'm very teruja.. but my keterujaan tak sama dgn after i watch it and melangkah keluar dari ib...when i heard that AC also gonna be in the show, i never ragu2 wether he can sing or not..cuz i know he can.. but can he act? u know, in theatre different with drama or movie..but after i watch it.. My god!! btol laa u kata..AC meeemang best.. when all the casts coming out for d closing, bila AC keluar je.. i can't stop myself from giving him a standing ovation.. u know him personally, u put trust on him to be in ur movie.. from wat u wrote, u r proud with him...AC sangat best.. Now i see his talent..not just a typical actor..Cip, me and my buddies are going too for 2nd time.. but i heard the tix for 26th are already finish laa cip..kena book cpat lah!

i always like AC Mizal, from the very first time i watched him on tv screen....he's a natural..its ashamed that he hasn't been given much opportunity to showcase his talent..hope to see more of him after Bulis & PGL musical

well...what the heck...despite every bone in my body crying out for want of other indulgences with three full hours or so...count me in i s'ppose...can always have a good laugh at stephen attempting to act with using bahasa malaysia again.still think he sounds like daffy duck...(when not singing)agree on AC with you afdlin...

first time lak tak tengok teater istana budaya on opening nite. good to know that PGL had a good turn out....masa i pegi opening nite of Rubiah, hardly half of the hall was occupied. what a pity, sebab citer tu pun best gak.

I never thought PGL was good, seriously. I was so excited before it came out. Like, FINALLY a malay epic worth watching. To my disappointment, however, there was just too much hype, when there was just too little to hype about. Plot was under-developed, dialog tend to me corny, some characters were redundant, and there's no RM15 million quality to it. It's not that i'm being too harsh on Malaysia's Film Industry, its just that sometimes I think that they should have just shut up and see the masses acceptance towards the movie, and THEN let out the delicious secret on how the movie becomes THAT successful. Tk your movies for example, I absolutely loved Buli (havent seen Buli Balik coz I'm o/seas sadly :( ), and then Yasmin's Sepet... there was not much hype about them, but when they came out, they came out with a big bang! You didn't go announcing your budget to impress, but the show was impressive...

Perhaps I should give Tiara a chance to redeem herself in PGLTM, although I am still very skeptical abt it. Her other musical theatres were excellent (i.e. Siti Zubaidah)... but I reckon she should humbly step down and let the role of PGL to be taken over by a young, fresh face with the similar charisma that she has, because seriously, I doubt PGL looked 40plus, when she should be in her late teens. THis comment is not original, i know, it has been published on NST, but shouldnt she take note? And now, she produced a musical repeating the same mistake in that area. Is there too much pride in her that she cannot accept comments such as these?

ya,i have to admit this..i really love this performance..soooo touching... i saw afdlin last nite at istana budaya...hey afdlin,is that the second time u watched that musical??? so proud to be malaysian..i'm quite impressed by ac mizal character..i luv him too.. hehehhe.. keep up the good work...